Fairview Business Centre, Hayes

The Development

Fairview Business Centre is a 1.7 hectare estate of light industrial units on Clayton Road, close to Hayes Town Centre and Hayes & Harlington station. We secured two separate planning permissions on the estate in 2026.

Approval 1 – Roller shutters: Our client occupies Units 29 and 31 and needed better protection for the two pedestrian doors on the east elevation. The application sought permission for the installation of 2 x electric roller shutters over the existing doorways. The elevation faces an internal car park and is the part of the building furthest from the Clayton Road street scene.

Approval 2 – Air conditioning plant: At 33-35 Clayton Road, the occupier needed cooling for its building. The application sought permission for 4 new external air conditioning condenser units, with associated pipework, external louvres and mounting on flexi feet and brackets at ground and high level on the canal-side (north) elevation of Building B.

Site Context

The site sits in a sensitive and changing setting. To the north is the Grand Union Canal, a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. To the east are 5 and 6 storey blocks of flats, including Union House. To the west, the Crown Trading Centre has permission for 407 new homes. The site is allocated for residential-led mixed-use redevelopment under Policy SA 4 of the Hillingdon Local Plan: Part 2.

The business centre had recently been upgraded under planning permission 58758/APP/2024/2764, which covered overcladding, new doors and windows, roof lights, solar panels and EV charging. Any new work had to fit in with that refreshed design.

Planning Strategy

For the roller shutters, Planning Pros prepared the drawings and a Planning Statement assessing the proposal against the London Plan (2021), the Hillingdon Local Plan and the NPPF. The case was built around four points:

• •Discreet Location: The shutters go on the two ground floor doorways furthest from Clayton Road, so they barely affect the public street scene.
• •Design Coherence: Black powder-coated shutters match the dark grey windows and doors installed during the recent refurbishment.
• •Safer Places: The shutters improve the security of the units, in line with Policy DMHB 15 (Planning for Safer Places).
• •Neighbour Amenity: Because the shutters are for security, they are unlikely to run at night. This addressed the agent of change and noise concerns under London Plan Policy D13.

For the air conditioning units, the key issues were noise and the canal-side setting:

• •Plant Noise Assessment: A noise assessment showed that, with the recommended mitigation, the plant would comply with local and national policy and avoid adverse impacts on the homes on Clayton Road.
• •Sensitive Design: The ground level units sit on a single parking space behind timber fencing, and the high level louvres are coloured to match the existing cladding.
• •Resolving the Canal & River Trust Objection: The Trust objected because the original plans showed a substation and land within its control. We submitted corrected plans removing the substation and its 5 metre zone along the canal boundary, and served notice on the Trust.

Consultation

For the roller shutters, the council consulted 58 neighbours and received no objections. Cadent Gas raised no objection, subject to a standard informative about nearby gas infrastructure.

For the air conditioning units, no public comments were received. Cadent Gas raised no objection, and the council's Noise Officer found that a significant adverse noise impact was unlikely. The Canal & River Trust's objection was addressed through the corrected plans.

Result

The London Borough of Hillingdon granted both applications under delegated powers. Only the standard time limit and approved plans conditions were attached to each.